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U.S. Passion For World Cup Will Remain High Through Final, Marketing Executive Says

The TV ratings have been through the roof and Tim Howard’s become an overnight household name as the country stopped in its tracks whenever the U.S. soccer team was playing in the World Cup the last three weeks.

But now that the U.S has been eliminated, will the intense interest remain through the quarterfinals and all the way to the final on July 13? Simon Wardle, Octagon’s worldwide chief strategy officer, is convinced it will. “Finally soccer has cracked the U.S.,” he said. “It was crucial that the U.S. got out of the Group of Death because it definitely would have put a damper on it if we had lost all three games and not scored a goal.”

Octagon, which develops programs to help corporations such as Bank of America, MasterCard, Coca Cola and Sprint leverage their sports involvement, estimates that 451 million Americans will watch the 64 games of the World Cup, an increase of 63 percent from the 276 million of four years ago. Representing Cup sponsors such as Johnson & Johnson, AB InBev and Oi, Octagon (IPG), part of the Interpublic Group, has more than 200 staff members in Brazil and is managing more than 500 events worldwide.

The U.S.-Belgium round of 16 game last Tuesday attracted a higher TV rating than the NBA Finals and World Series. “People have a higher familiarity level of the game and the players than ever before,” Wardle said citing cable broadcasts of the English Premier League and other international matches as well as the expansion of the MLS to markets such as Portland and Seattle. “They’re probably kicking themselves for not putting it on ABC (rather than ESPN) because then they would have had an even higher viewership.”

Wardle thinks there will be plenty of endorsement opportunities for Howard and Clint Dempsey. “Any company would benefit from being associated with an articulate guy like (Howard),” Wardle said, adding that Howard will also likely reap deals in the United Kingdom because he plays for Everton of the EPL.

Going forward, Wardle said it would be best for TV ratings the longer Brazil stays alive and that a Brazil-Argentina final would be ideal internationally in his view. He said Americans may have a stake to see Belgium advance to the final because of the U.S. loss at its hands (feet?).

Regardless, Wardle sees a bright future for soccer in the U.S. as the young players from the national team return to their MLS and club teams to work on their games while legions of new fans watch.

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